Influence of rhizomania on sugarbeet storability

Rhizomania caused by Beet necrotic yellow vein virus (BNYVV) and storage losses are serious sugar beet production problems. To investigate the influence of BNYVV on storability, six sugar beet cultivars varying for resistance to BNYVV were grown in 2005 and 2006 in southern Idaho fields with and without BNYVV infested soil. At harvest, samples from each cultivar were placed in an outdoor pile as a randomized complete block design with 4 reps in Twin Falls, ID and were removed on 40-day intervals starting the end of October. After 144 and 142 days in storage, sugar reduction across cultivars averaged 20 and 13% without and 68 and 21% with BNYVV for the 2005 and 2006 roots, respectively. In the December samplings, frozen root area was 1 and 2% without and 25 and 41% with BNYVV for the 2005 and 2006 roots, respectively. Root rot was always worse with stored roots from BYNVV infested soil in December, January, and February samplings. In another series of studies an indoor storage facility was utilized to generate a more uniform environment. Research in this environment suggested this approach may lead to a more reliable cultivar screen for storability than work conducted outdoors. Cultivars that performed well in these assays possessed both resistance to rhizomania and good storability